Long Beach property crime increase due in part to AB 109 early releases, police say

LONG BEACH - Property crimes spiked dramatically in Long Beach last year, which many officers charge is largely the result of the number of nonviolent inmates who were released early under Assembly Bill 109.

Police officials say a number of factors likely contributed to the spike, such as the region's still lagging economy, but officers say they can't discount the thousands of Los Angeles and other county inmates that were set free before completing their sentences.

Violent crime, on the other hand, hit a 30-year low in 2012, with the city experiencing its lowest rates in that category for the first time since 1972, according to statistics on the Police Department's website. The department is expected to release its official 2012 crime statistics this week.

"Under realignment, there are some 4,000 fewer people in the system. They're back on the streets," Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. "These are people who have a history of property crimes, of thefts and burglaries and other nonviolent offenses, and these are people who are often driven ... by a dependence on narcotics. It's predictable that they are going to re-offend in a serial fashion."

Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 109 and AB 117, referred to as Realignment Legislation by state officials, in 2011. Implementation of the bills - which see nonviolent, nonsex offender inmates moved from the state prison system to county jail systems - began on Oct. 1 of that year.

Last November, California voters passed Proposition 30, creating a constitutional amendment that protected ongoing funding to the counties for realigned inmates. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the state's prison authority, no inmates currently in state prison have been or will be transferred to county jails or released early. And those who were transferred prior to November, state officials note, must serve 100 percent of their sentence.

Nonetheless for Los Angeles County - which was already struggling with overcrowding in its jails before realignment - the shift of thousands of state inmates earlier in the year triggered the early release of thousands of other, lower-level inmates in order to make room for the realigned prisoners, local authorities have said.

Long Beach police officers say it's commonplace to arrest and re-arrest the same person due to realignment and early release. Calls for service on the crimes committed by those who qualify for early release - mainly burglaries and thefts - can now stack up to the point that police response time may take hours, or more than a day, according to the rank-and-file.

Due to higher crime numbers, compounded by a large population, Los Angeles County also has a much higher threshold for inmates to be prosecuted for more serious crimes that require them to go to prison, or serve a full term in the county system, the chief said.

Because of the city and police department's budget constraints, the department was forced to choose an area on which to focus in 2012, and violent crime was the clear priority, the chief said Friday.

"Violent crime levels are so low, we haven't seen them at this level since 1972," the chief said. "That is something for the city to be proud of."

However, choosing to bolster one area naturally meant other areas, such as those in the nonviolent offense category, suffered.

There are no statistics to show the number of AB 109 inmates arrested for property crimes last year, largely because it's extremely difficult to track, the chief said. Many of the inmates who qualify for county jail and early release often cross jurisdictional boundaries when re-arrested and have multiple convictions in multiple counties, and sometimes states.

Still, he said, he has heard the same complaints from officers that they are dealing with repeat offenders.

The public is also not without some responsibility, he and other authorities note.

McDonnell estimated about 40 percent of last year's burglary and theft calls involved victims who left homes, garages and cars unsecured.

The department frequently provides public notices and warns residents and businesses of increased property crimes in their neighborhoods and provides tips on how to avoid becoming a victim. It also publicizes a number of resources to residents, businesses and community organizations on how to better secure their properties, including having officers go to meetings to discuss safety tips and, occasionally, the distribution of free products, like bike locks.

It's still too early to tell if Prop. 30 will provide enough funding to the county to counteract the shortened jail terms, McDonnell said.

His department is always looking for ways to address the need for more resources in all crime categories, including property and nonviolent offenses.

Still, the role of the residents and businesses is more crucial than ever.

"We really need the community to step up and eliminate these simple opportunities" for criminals who focus on property, McDonnell said. "The department will always do what it can with the resources we are given, (but) we're always better when we have the focus and support of the community."